Fig. 4

Endothelial dysfunction and activation in thoracic aorta. Thoracic aorta were subjected to quantitative RT-PCR of a eNOS, b MCP-1, c VCAM-1, and d ICAM-1 mRNAs (n = 3). e Sections of thoracic aorta of (i) control, (ii) HFHF, (iii) PMCD, and (iv) HFHF+PMCD groups were immunostained for CD68 (macrophage marker) (scale bar = 50 μm; black arrows indicate CD68⁺ areas), and d quantification of the positive areas was carried out using Image J (n = 6). Mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs control, ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 vs HFHF, ⁺⁺P < 0.001, ⁺⁺⁺P < 0.001 vs PMCD. ns, non-significant